The Future Comes in Gray

The AI boom needs millions of dollars in paint. I tried to understand semiconductors when I should have bought a roller.

Artificial intelligence can create entire worlds. Somebody still has to paint the building.

I read that one of the businesses benefiting from artificial intelligence is paint.

Somebody should have told me before I tried to understand semiconductors.

While I wondered which company would build the machine that changes civilization, somebody else was loading a truck with five-gallon buckets.

I’m a real estate photographer. I’ve spent years listening to people explain that their gray walls are actually greige. Now the future needs gray, too.

Somewhere, a man who understands neural networks is holding two paint chips against a wall. His wife says one has a little green in it.

The project is delayed six weeks.

Read the full Riff, yesterday’s recap, and today’s picks on Substack →

BUT WAIT There’s more

I Outlived the Volcano

I took pictures of what used to be the Mirage and realized I had outlived a volcano. It had no cholesterol, a maintenance crew and a Grateful Dead member supplying its soundtrack. I hadn’t realized we were competing.

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